Artist creates 'wash your hands' posters in 21 Indigenous languages

When Colleen Gray saw that the United Nations had put out a call for artists to join the fight againstCOVID-19, her first thought was how to get the message out to Canada's Indigenous communities.

The artist who's part French,part Irish and part Mi'kmaq decided to take two of her pieces and, using translationsshe found on an Indigenous Services Canada website,add the recommendation to "wash your hands" in 21 Indigenous languages.

But when she submitted them to the agency running the global contest, Talenthouse, hers were not included in the final cut.

When she followed up with an email highlighting the importance of including North American Indigenous languages, she received a reply describinga variety of language choices available on the site, including Turkish, Nigerian Pidgin and Hindi but no Indigenous languages from North America.

Artist creates public health notices in Indigenous languages

4 years ago

Duration 0:41

Artist Colleen Gray created a series of posters with the phrase wash your hands in 21 Indigenous languages.

Gray found thatupsetting, especially given the UN's commitment to Indigenous languages.

• Canada officially adopts UN declaration on rights of Indigenous Peoples

"Just the disconnect really frustrated me. I didn't understand what was going on there. So when in doubt, do it yourself," said Gray. She identifies as eastern Metis, which is its own distinct group.

• Q&A: Who is Mtis? Manitoba Mtis Federation and Eastern Woodland Mtis have quite different answers

• The controversial rise of the eastern Metis: 'Where were these people all this time?'

Gray decided instead to posther pieces on her website for free downloadin April.

Months later, after CBC Ottawa reached out for comment to Talenthouse, the company got in touch with Gray to ask for translations of the messages, with a plan to include them in an upcoming North American collection.

In the meantime, Grayhad shared them with public health groups and others working in Indigenous communities across Canada, where she's received positive feedback.

There's a lot of elders that don't speak the English language fluently, so to see something in their own language would be comforting, just knowing that somebody cares enough to take the time to give you something in the language of your own upbringing.- Colleen Gray

"At Beaverhouse First Nation,they were very excited to see this and grateful to have the resources. I heard froma nurse in the Mohawk community and she said, 'This is brilliant,'" Gray said.

Ottawa Public Health recentlyadded Gray'stranslationsto a resource page for First Nations, Inuit andMtis community members.

• OPH launches COVID-19 resource page for Indigenous people in Ottawa

One of the posters featuresa woman sitting under a tree and pointing, as if to say, 'Wash your hands.' The other is of a polar bear in a cave, which Gray paired with languages used for Northern communities.

Thoughgovernment websites have made some public health messages available in some of the more popular Indigenous languages, Gray saidshe was motivated to make sure none of the smaller communities isforgotten. Her collection covers a wider range of languagesincluding Denesuline, Swampy Cree, Innu aimun and Lakota.

Gray says she'll even take requestsif there's a language that's not included.

"There's a lot of elders that don't speak the English language fluently, so to see something in their own language would be comforting, just knowing that somebody cares enough to take the time to give you something in the language of your own upbringing. It's very important," said Gray, who has connections to many of these communities through her non-profit, called Art for Aid, whichdelivers new and gently used art supplies to youth in remote Indigenous communities.

• Meet the artist who gets art supplies to Indigenous schools and promotes artists

This isn't the first time Gray has created art intended to senda public message. Gray's work was posted on a billboard on Highway 174 in Orlans last summer aspart of a national campaign to draw attention to MMIWG.

• National billboard campaign honours missing and murdered Indigenous women

Now, she's focused on adjusting the protocols at her non-profit for the COVID-19 era. When the pandemic first hit, she began twice-disinfecting the pencils and paintbrushes that had taken over the basement and garage of her home in Carleton Place, Ont.,for fear of unintentionally sending the virus into a vulnerable remote community.

"90 per cent ofmy skin was pretty ragged by the end of that," said Gray, who believes the project is especially important during lockdown.

"Because now is a time when you want to channel things into art, and you also have time or space for that," she said.

Art for Aid is asking anyone who may have uncovered old art supplies during pandemic cleaning sprees to leave them outside in the sunbefore donating them. Gray has also launched an online store to raise funds to cover the high costof sending art supplies to the North.